The most important are the following bases:—
Quinine is contained in the cinchona (yellow) bark. One hundred parts of the bark have been calculated to yield three of quinine.
Morphine is the poisonous base of opium, which is the juice of the poppy, and is prepared chiefly in India and China.
Nicotine is the active principle of tobacco, and varies in quantity in different tobaccos. Havannah tobacco possesses the least. It is a powerful poison, very oily, volatile, and inflammable.
Conia is prepared from the hemlock. It is fluid and volatile. It is also a deadly poison, and paralyses the spine directly.
Fig. 426.—Hemlock.
Strychnine is found in poisonous trees, particularly in the nux-vomica seeds of Coromandel. It produces lock-jaw and paralysis. There is no antidote for strychnine; emetics are the only remedy.
The above are chiefly remarkable for their uses in medicine, and in consequence of their highly poisonous character are best left alone by unpractised hands.
A German chemist, named Serturner, was the first to extract the active principle from Opium. The question of opium importation has lately been attracting much attention, and the opinions concerning its use are divided. Probably in moderation, and when used by ordinary people (not demoralized creatures), it does little harm.